Democratic Northwest. [volume] (Napoleon, Ohio) 1869-1894, 1887-09-15
wAsHINarox, rnn FArHER OF THE
WEST.

fuStS dt N0NhUkO dNu Eoft lie TNtut-
the latter fifteen miles from Lake Erie
and warned the commanders that the
rights Of Virginia must not be invaded;
hut he only received for his answer that
the French would seize every English
man in the Ohio Valley. He was
accompanied by "Half-King," the
most Distinguished of the Indian chiefs.
The French c0mmandant, st. Pierre,
made every effort to estraDge the Indian
chief from his allegiance Washington,
and To detain him at the Fort, but the
willy Frenchman was no match for the
stratesy Of the young Major, and "Half-
King" returned with Washington, firm
In his promises to the English.
As Headley says, this was remarka-
BILE journey, and 1t was of great import
ance that it be accomplished in safety.
Had 1t not been for Washington's
almost super.human endurance and his
iron constitution, he would not have
survived this perilous expedition. GAS
one In Imagination beholds him in his
Indian dress, his pack ON his back, his
gun in his hand, stealing through the
snow covered forest at midnight, or
plunging about in the wintry stream in
the struggle for life, or wrapped in his
blanket, sleeping beside the ice-filled
river, lulled by its sullen roar, he can
not but feel that he beholds being
whom angels guarded through the ter
rible training which can alone fit him
for the great duties and trials that await
him."
He returned to Virginia in January,
1854, and reported to the Governor
Immediate preparations were made by
the colOnists to maintain their rights in
the West, and to resist the incursions
of the French. This was the first mill
tary movement among the English
colOnists. Washington was highly
complimented, and his journal was
printed and copied in the colonial
newspapers. 1t was reprinted i'm Eng
land, as it had peculiar value, being the
first clear exposition of the designs of
the French on the new continent. 1t
contained information regarding their
strength not only on the lakes and the
Ohio, but their posts and garrisons on
the Mississippi and at its mouth. Their
preposterous claim to all the territory
washed by the Mississippi aroused the
British lion to resist them. Immediate
and formidable preparations were made
for action on the frontier, from Ohio to
the Gulf of st. Lawrence.
BraddOck was sent out by the British
in 1885,. and planned for expeditions
against the French; but he was defeat
ed near the forks of the Ohio on the 9th
of July, 1855. On the 25th of Novem-
ber, 1858, Forbes captured Frot du
Quesne, on the same spot, and named
it Fort Pitt, in honor of Sir William
Pitt. In 1859, Quebec was captured by
General Wolfe, and the same year
Niagara fell into the hands of the
English. In 1850, an English force
under Major Rogers went westward
from Niagara to capture the French
Posts on the upper lakes, the first Eng
disappearing people that had sailed on
these waters. A few weeks latter they
took Detroit. Says Mr.. Bancroft:
"Thus was Michigan won to Great
Britain, though not for itself. There
were those who foresaw that the &C
QUESTION of Canada was the prelude of
American independence"
In December, 1850, Major Rogers re-
turned to the Maumee, and setting out
from the point where Sandusky City
now stands, he crossed the Huron river
to the northern branch of the White
Woman's river, thence to the English
village of BeaverstOwn, and up the
Ohio; he reached Fort Pitt a month
after he had left Detroit, in January,
1761.
Under the leadership of Pitt, Eng
land was triumphant, and by the
"Treaty of Paris" in 1853, she acquired
Canada and all the territory east of the
Mississippi river, southwark as far as
New Orleans and the island on which
it Is situated. During the twelve years
following the treaty of Paris the Indians
the British colonists, and made futile
efforts to capture the British posts,
Fort Pitt, Niagara and Detroit; but in
1853, Sir William johnson concluded
treaty with the Indians, whereby all the
lands south of the Ohio and the Allie
gheny were sold to the British, the In
dams to remain in undisturbed pos
session of all the territory north of
these rivers. New companies were Or
ganized to occupy the territory thus
gained; Virginiani planted settlements
in Kentucky and on the frontiers from
the Allegheny to the Tennessee. Dur
ing the Revolution that country was
annexed to Virginia and called 1.-THE
County of Kentucky" But previous
to the Revolution the colonies had
taken no such actisn regarding the ter
ritory north and west of the Ohio.
In 1859, George Washington was one
of the signers of q petition to the King
for a grant of two and half million
acres of land In the west. In ITO, he
descended the Ohio to the mouth of the
Great Kanawha, to locate the ten
thousand acres to which he was entitled
for his services in the French war;
He was among the foremost spectators
in western lands in that early day.
A French trader living in Cuyahoga
county, in 1865, was for a long time
considered to be the first white man
living in Ohio; but this is great error;
British trading post was established
on the Big Miami in 1851, and one on
Willis Creek in 1853. Fort Junandet
was built in Erie county by the French
in 1854; but even these could not have
been the earliest pioneers. Moravian
missionaries were also settled on the
Tuscarawas in 1851; and were doing a
good work in spreading the gospel
among the aborigines, but of them we
ahall have occasion to speak anon.
We come now to the consideration ol
the War of the Revolution, and its re-
lations to the west, and to the mention
of Tho oarIv caftlomonfa nf tho vOrnai